Clinton Cheers New Bid to Solve Amelia Earhart Mystery

Seventy-five years after pilot Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific Ocean as she tried to circumnavigate the globe, scientists on Tuesday announced a new phase in their efforts to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

The quest has at least one high-profile supporter: Hillary Clinton, who invited the team to the State Department, where they unveiled the expedition that will begin in July and focus on an area roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia.

"Even if you do not find what you seek, there is great honor and possibility in the search itself," Clinton said (via Politico).

Earhart and fellow navigator Fred Noonan disappeared in 1937 after leaving what is now Papua New Guinea and heading toward Howland Island in the South Pacific. The latest theory suggests that the pair crashed on or near Nikumaroro Island, Time magazine explains.

That island is the scene for the new investigation, since scientists from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery think that a photo taken nearby just months after the disappearance might hold the key to solving the mystery, Reuters reports.

The new effort is being funded through an unnamed half-milion-dollar private donation.

Theories have long abounded about the pair's mysterious disappearance. In 2010, investigators thought they had found possible remains on the same island set for this summer's probe. But DNA tests on the bones have remained inconclusive.

History fans can check out the Wall Street Journal’s compilation of 30s-era photos of Earhart here.